Winner of the 2022 Rhodes Scholarship Haroon Avgana with Doron Weber, National Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. | Credit: Courtesy

Haroon Avgana is one of two Israelis to be awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship by the Cecil Rhodes Trust. He is UofH's third Rhodes scholar in the past four years. Avgana graduated with a BA in Psychology and English Literature from the University of Haifa and is currently a graduate student in Experimental Psychology. He also coordinated projects that brought together Jewish and Arab students through the Ma'ayan Bamidbar Tutoring Program. Avgana plans to pursue a PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford.

Meet past UofH Rhodes Scholars:
 Lamma Mansour (2019) and Lian Ryan-Hume (Najami) (2018)

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

University of Haifa is a global leader in the number of academic publications on art therapy research according to an article published in Frontiers in Psychology. Prof. Rachel Lev-Wiesel, (founding director of the School of Creative Arts Therapies and the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center), Dr. Dafna Regev (academic director of the art therapy track), and Dr. Michal Bat Or (senior lecturer) were highlighted in the article. The Center was founded with the support of the University's longstanding friends and supporters, Tova and Sami Sagol, whose generosity also helped stablish the Sagol Department of Neurobiology. The Research Center's mission is to develop evidence-based knowledge in creative arts therapies and techniques for identifying and treating high-risk children at the Sagol Therapy Laboratory for Children at Risk. "This recognition demonstrated the University's significant contributions to the field of creative arts therapies over the past decade," noted Dr. Limor Goldner, current director of the School and the Emili Sagol Research Center.  

UofH students at the inaugural event.

The Office of the Dean of Students and the Kav Mashve Organization inaugurated a Business Club Program for students in the Departments of Computer Science and Information Systems. The program aims to provide students from Arab society with the tools and skills needed for a smooth transition into their future careers. Participants will be able to meet and learn from leading Israeli companies and businesses, take part in hands-on workshops, and build a solid foundation for their professional development. Dozens of students, as well as Sami Assad, CEO of Kav Mishva, and Leah Rozenberg, Director of the Career Development Center at the University of Haifa, attended the event.

Dina Avshalom-Gorni (Zinman Institute of Archaeology) and Dr. Yudah Govrin at the excavation site. Credit: University of Haifa

UofH archaeologists have discovered a second synagogue in the northern Israeli town of Migdal. The finding casts new light on Jewish religious and communal life in the area 2,000 years ago. "The discovery of a second synagogue in this Ancient Galilean settlement reflects the desire (of residents) for a dedicated building for Torah reading, study, and social gatherings," says Dina Avshalom-Gorni (Zinman Institute of Archaeology), one of the directors of the excavation. Migdal was an ancient city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and is believed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus. The structure was unearthed by Israel Antiquities Authority, in collaboration with UofH researchers and Y.G. Contract Archaeology firm.

Photo taken at the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library. | Credit: M.Zreik

Unlike Alzheimer's, old-age dementia is not a degenerative disease but rather refers to the diminished ability to remember, speak or organize thoughts with age. A recent study found an association between growing up with at least one full shelf of books and better memory and fluency in old age. The research, co-led by Dr. Galit Weinstein (Head, Epidemiology Department at the School of Public Health) and colleagues from BGU and the Israel Gerontological Data Center, is based on analyses of hundreds of thousands of health surveys and questionnaires documented in the database Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The findings were published in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.

Rector Gur Alroey's "Land of Refuge: Immigration to the Land of Israel, 1919-1927" (Hebrew Language) explores the controversial rejection of groups of Jewish immigrants to Israel following the first World War and the policies of the Zionist movement to keep them from reaching Israel. More on this book in Haaretz. |  *Prof. Alroey is the academic founder of the Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies. 

Prof. Rivka Yahav and Prof. Eliezer Witztum from BGU have written a new book (Hebrew language) on love relationships - difficulties and "impossible loves". Prof. Yahav recently presented an advanced copy of the book to Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel. | *Prof. Yahav is Head of the Interdisciplinary Clinical Center 

Dr. Ronit Marzan's "The Son, the Father and the Winds of Revolution" (Hebrew language) examines the protest movement known as the Arab Spring and the issue of democracy in the Muslim world. A number of media outlets in Israel have interviewed her since its publication. | *Prof. Marzan is a researcher at the School of Political Science.

Prof. Daniel Sperling's " Ethics and Panic in the World of Informatics" (Hebrew language) opens a window into the legal and ethical issues that are at the forefront of research in the world of academic informatics. | *Prof. Daniel Sperling is a faculty member at the Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing

University of Haifa was delighted to welcome Mr. Avi Gelberg, President of the Brazilian Friends of the University. During his visit to the Mt. Carmel Campus, he met with President Ron Robin and several UofH faculty and students to discuss new initiatives and outreach activities in Brazil. A Haifa native, Mr. Gelberg is the CEO of Group SYL, and a prominent member of the Israeli and Jewish communities of São Paulo. Adrian Teper, Director of the Latin American Desk, coordinated the visit.

A webinar organized by the American Society of the University of Haifa and Dr. Uriel Simonsohn (Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies) entitled "Mobilizing Change Through Inter-Religious Collaboration" brought together esteemed leaders from Haifa's Jewish Reform, Ahmadiyya Muslim and Greek-Melkite Christian communities to discuss the value of interfaith dialogue and how dialogue can contribute to coexistence. Dr. Simonsohn is head of the newly established Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies, a unique initiative aiming to advance our understanding of religion's role in promoting social cohesion in an increasingly diverse society. Steve Sarowitz of The Wayfarer Foundation announced a $100,000 challenge grant to support the Laboratory during the event. Every donation will be matched dollar for dollar. Prof. Mouna Maroon (Sagol Department of Neurobiology) moderated the discussion, which included Rabbi Na'ama Dafni-Kellen, Archbishop Yousef Matta, and Mu'ad Odeh, General Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

A key seminar on "Food for Good" was delivered by Prof. Assaf Distelfeld (Director, Institute of Evolution) at the 2021 ITVTI Food for Good International Higher Education Symposium. Academic and industry representatives from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Taiwan attended. Prof. Distelfeld's lecture "Milestones in Wheat Domestication", described the landmark scientific discovery made by a team of 95 scientists from around the world who successfully sequenced the genomes of 15 wheat varieties. The Asia Pacific Desk facilitated the participation of UofH in the conference, in collaboration with Providence University in Taiwan, which promotes issues of food sustainability across Asia.

Over 60 Israeli and Chinese students attended the hybrid cryptology conference held jointly by UofH and the East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai. The conference, part of a research project funded by the Israel Science Foundation and its Chinese counterpart the National Natural Science Foundation of China, featured a number of lectures on interdisciplinary research exploring effective cryptography  in the promotion of data security. Prof. Orr Dunkelman (Co-Director, The Center for Cyber Law and Policy, Prof. Shay Gueron (Department of Mathematics) and Dr. Adi Akavia (Department of Computer Science) were among the faculty members leading the event.